The truth is there's only one reason why i haven't deleted my Google+ account and that is the promised arrival of Google pages for businesses. With rumours that they would out-do Facebooks long standing pages, with better functionality and more options for customisation I eagerly awaited the launch day. And today is that day, Google+ pages rolled out to a select few companies and I woke up this morning to a stream of articles about the brand new, shiny pages, so after all this anticipation, how does it look?
If you want to know how to turn off Facebook top stories, then read on. I've been currently engaging in an experiment: how to turn off Facebook top stories. Before last week, you could opt for 'top stories' or 'all stories' on Facebook. I.e. you could let Facebook's algorithm choose which stories fill your page or you could have everything appearing in the timeline that it happened.
Take a look at the graph below that was provided by Hitwise last week, the week Google + went public.
Looks promising, huh? Something like 4000% growth or some other such number that I can't remember. At last, a worthy competitor to Facebook. Everyone basked in the fact that Google + was going to take over the social media crown and how this growth was so much higher than when Facebook was launched.
But all is not fantastic in this graph.
This question 'do I need a website' is one that has challenged small business and top marketing firms since the advent of the digital age but there's really two parts to this question now: 'do I need a website?' and then 'can I just use a Facebook page?'
We're going to assume that the answer to the first part is 'yes'. In 2012, no top marketing firms would suggest you can survive without a digital presence. If you actually want some sales, then you need a www and anyone who says otherwise is bonkers.
It is more important than ever for brands to find innovative and unique ways to connect and engage with their target market in today's digital world. No longer are we purchasing products in stores - the growth of mobile has changed the way we browse, compare, purchase and share our customer experiences.
Are our friends on social networks more important than our "real-life" friends? Are we changing the way we communicate and who we communicate with for the better? Or are we becoming more and more anti-social as technology advances?
I Facebook while I'm out to dinner. I tweet at networking events. And earlier this week I was caught checking for notifications and friend requests mid-conversation with my mum. Which, as you can imagine, didn't go down well.
Social Media. You can't ignore it. Or, maybe you can. But if you're too afraid to dip your toes in, your business may suffer the consequences.
I had lunch with a friend the other day who used to work for what I would describe as a traditional Brisbane advertising agency. That's not a negative way of describing them but they're established and recognised in what they do, and have a global presence. She's now setting out on her own in a new venture doing something similar but on a smaller scale. Even in her new venture, her and her business partner have years, if not decades of experience to call upon to sell their new business forward.
So just before we parted she asked me 'why do I share everything on my social media sites?'
Iiiiiiiiiin the red corner, we have one of the biggest global brands, sentinels of search, magicians of maps and wizards of Wave, one of the most recognized brand names in the world, weighing in at an annual revenue of $23 billion, ladies and gentlemen, I give you….Google.
If you want to take a look at a pop act who is also an expert in marketing, then you don't need to look much further than Lady Gaga.
In the history of music, there have been some great self-marketing acts - Madonna, Michael Jackson, Sex Pistols, Beatles, Eminem - groups and artists that have their very marketing built into who they are, and their image and route to market is as important as their music.
